Maveth
by bhut
Summary: Based on 3x10 promo, the trio of Ward, Fitz, and Coulson arrive on the alien planet to find and rescue Will (even though none of them really want to). Sadly, the tensions between the three of them are running high - can they resolve their issues with each other, or just kill each other instead? Read on and find out.
1. Chapter 1

**Maveth (part 1)**

 _Disclaimer: none of the characters are mine, but belong to Marvel™._

 _Note: this story contains spoilers._

The time for masks was over. Thomas hated him. Grant had done his best to help his baby brother, to impress him, and it did not work. Thomas was still very much a Ward, he had failed to impress him, to save him – Thomas was still a fractured, damaged man with all of the viciousness and cunning of a weasel – a giant weasel, say, but a weasel nonetheless. It hurt. Grant was a success as an assassin (and perhaps a blackguard too), but as a human being? This was bad; this was as bad as Kara Lynn was, and for now? Grant did not know how to fix it, and because Thomas was family, Grant did not really want to fix it – and maybe he should not.

 _You are just useful, and now, your brother – he is even more useful..._ Coulson spoke that about Christian, not Thomas, but it did not matter in the end. Back then, Grant had no intention of going back to his family's mercies (neither had Thomas, for that matter), and so he finally had his closure with Christian and their parents, leaving Thomas to be free – or so he thought. He was wrong. Coulson _did_ learn that Thomas was alive; he decided that he will be of use to him, and Thomas, his own fear of Grant riding him hard, complied.

Grant had not decided if he was going to kill Thomas yet or just beat the crap out of him, as he had done so in the past – it did not matter. In fact, so many things did not matter anymore, that somehow Grant's numbness had become a pain – a new pain of some sort, (and Grant knew about _pain_ – he had both dealt it and received it, thanks to Garrett).

And speaking of knowledge...Grant was aware that Leo had been starring at him ever since they have arrived at the alien planet. So, of course, had been the other men, but only because he was their leader, at least in Malick's absence, and between Garrett, Whitehall, and Bakshi, Grant knew exactly how an average Hydra minion thought (very little) and behaved (ready to betray the weak for the sake of the strong, unless brainwashing was involved...and Grant wasn't sure that it wasn't involved – Malick was more like Whitehall than John, though he tried to lie otherwise). True to John's predictions, Malick planned to buy Grant; before he could sell him – or rather, for the moment, he assumed that he already bought Grant with his little speech (did he give one to the younger von Strucker too before giving him over to Grant?) and this was why Grant was on this alien planet of fun – frankly, this rated about as high on his fun list, as the Zabos' fun-fun fish pills were.

However, none of the above involved Leo Fitz for the obvious reasons, so: "What?" Grant spoke, forcing himself to look into the younger man's eyes, for it hurt, for they reminded him of the sea into which he had dumped him and Simmons, and never mind whether or not the pod was supposed to float. "Your friends are already coming for you, you know? Malick is not as smart as he thinks he is, once they are finished moping the floor with him they'll reactivate the portal and get you out."

"What about you?" Leo blinked.

"What about me?" Grant shrugged. "Either you will shoot me, or leave me behind, to save face and pretend that you're heroes-"

"No, that's you – Bobbi told us how you pretended to be a hero with Palamas."

"Ok, and?"

"And what?"

"What's your point? Coulson has already tried to do something like this; he even dragged my last immediate living relative into it. Let's hear your spin on my problem while we're at it."

Leo fell silent – a thoughtful sort of silence. "Does it bother you?" he finally spoke, re-establishing eye contact. "That you have wasted your life serving Garrett? Do you regret it?"

"John was the one who brought me into Hydra, into S.H.I.E.L.D.," Grant immediately replied. "So no. What I do regret is that I had to give up everything for his sake – I owed it to him, but I do regret it, and I will regret it for the rest of my life, most likely."

"Ward," Leo said gravely, "you realize that the problem isn't that you threw us out of the plane – is that _you_ threw _us_ out of the plane. We were a team, Grant!"

"Yes, well, thanks to Garrett I had very different – and wrong – ideas about how a team worked," Grant shrugged. "And when I finally realized it, it was too late. And then Kara Lynn happened and was starting to think of retiring with her and living the rest of my life as a family man, but I misjudged Morse and Kara Lynn paid the price. Others _always_ paid the price for my mistakes. Well, enough!"

"Exactly!" Coulson agreed, as he finished subduing (well, taking down and killing, actually), the last of Hydra soldiers (Malick's version). "It's time to end this, Ward."

"Ok," the latter nodded. "Still, you've been fighting and killing them for the last hour or so – want to take a breather so that it would be a fairer fight?"

"You've been aware of him doing this?" Leo indicated the last of Hydra's downed soldiers.

"Yes."

"And you didn't say anything because-?"

"Aren't you and the director _friends_ and co-workers?"

"Yes," Leo rubbed the back of his head. "I meant, why haven't you tried to interfere with them – I mean, with Coulson?"

"Why should I?"

"'Cause you're Hydra, because you came here to-" Fitz paused. "Say, why _is_ Hydra interested in Will?"

"The Hydra is here because its' initial leader got exiled here via a Monolith – or a bunch of small ones," Grant shrugged. "Malick claims that the man – or a woman, but I've a feeling that it's a man – is gifted, or even an InHuman. You sure that it isn't the same guy?"

There was a pause and Fitz groaned. "No, I'm sure; I checked the records and all. Mr. Will is a real person...I mean, Hydra would not be putting a fake biography of him beforehand-"

"I don't know – Malick knew about Simmons before he met me," Grant shrugged, "you really should talk to him before Skye and Cavalry go through him-"

"She goes by Daisy now-" Leo began and stopped, when Grant gave him a _look_. "Anyways, she said that you're not a robot, you do care – you just care too much, so you try not to care at all-"

Grant stared down at Leo from his superior height, looking unimpressed. "What difference does it make? And I'm not saying this because Phil is about to shoot me, anyhow."

"That's right, I am," the older man nodded, sourly – he did not expect to be ignored. "Fitz, you already tried appealing to his better nature – he doesn't have any-"

"So what?" Fitz whirled around, not very happy with the director too. "Yes, I took a gamble with Ward and lost, but at least I took it! And what's more, you did not care that I took it – you still put Grant into solitary and pumped him for information, while not telling me that Jemma was spying for Hydra. You knew that I was loyal to S.H.I.E.L.D., but you still withheld the info! Coulson, is it just me, or are you still deciding what is best for S.H.I.E.L.D. and for everyone in it by yourself? You've been compromised, director, and it isn't Grant Ward's doing, not entirely!"

Coulson sagged – the last words of the younger man had clearly hurt him deeply. "You're wrong, Leo Fitz," he said quietly, almost painfully. "You were wrong when you assumed that your heroics were necessary – they weren't. You got hurt, Jemma Simmons got hurt, and I thought that you learned this. Apparently you did not, as you would rather try to redeem Ward despite all the evidence to the contrary, because it would make you look good. This is not the sort of attitude that the agency needs: I will not debrief you, in part because S.H.I.E.L.D. needs you, your knowledge and intelligence, but if you would rather be dramatic instead, then maybe it's time for your priorities to be changed; maybe it would be better for you to find work elsewhere, before your dramatics hurt both you and someone else. S.H.I.E.L.D. employs people on a voluntary basis, it hires only those who are happy to be there, and since you clearly are not, then maybe something should change – your attitude, your position in S.H.I.E.L.D., take your pick. But as for you-" he turned to Grant, only to find the bigger man much closer to him and Leo than before the director (or ex-director) of S.H.I.E.L.D. and his scientist (one of them, at any rate) got into each other's face.

"No," the specialist (S.H.I.E.L.D. or Hydra, who knew) spoke and grabbed Coulson's hand and firearm in a very strong grip of his own. It was Phil's own hand, not the robotic prosthetic, so Phil used this development to punch Grant a couple of times with the prosthetic in question – once, twice, but even as Grant staggered back, he ripped the weapon out of Coulson's grip, painfully too, and...threw it away, before grabbing the prosthetic and ripping it off the stump at the point of attachment. The backlash was painful enough for Coulson to momentarily stop his assault, and Grant used this opening fully to hit the older man – in the face, in the torso, punching him with one hand, gripping him and keeping him on his feet with another, until-

"Stop," Leo said very firmly.

Unexpectedly, Grant stopped.

"Thank you," Leo said next and nothing more. The pause stretched, not that Coulson minded it – he came off worse in his fight with Grant, the younger man was not a cyborg, but his punches still hurt, a lot.

"Fine," Leo finally broke the silence. "Ward, Grant, this actually proves my point – you're more than just a killer, 'cause otherwise, you wouldn't have listened to me."

"You got the gun-"

"I doubt that I would've been able to kill you quickly enough to save Phil," Leo shrugged, and put the weapon in question back onto the sandy soil of the planet. "Now what?"

"You tell me – us," Grant pointed out. "You're the man with the local knowledge – where is the man-InHuman-eldritch horror in question supposed to be?"

"I was trying to engage you further in a philosophical discussion," Leo blinked, sounding half-sheepish and half-embarrassed, "but your question is good too. I was kind of following your lead, since you were supposed to be the leader-"

"I was following your guidance, figuring that you were just stalling for the time until your teammates arrived, until they did," Grant countered, pointing at Coulson.

"No, I was the only one to make it before the new portal closed," Coulson confessed, carefully not looking at either of the two people.

"It'll be still several hours before Malick opens the portal – if he wins, which I doubt," Grant shrugged. "Any suggestions?"

"We might as well look for Will while we're at it," Leo grunted. "Director, can you remember where you ended up before you saw us and the Hydra soldiers and followed?"

"Yes," Coulson replied in the same carefully controlled and bland voice. "I can."

There was another uncomfortable pause. "I'll show it to you," Coulson confessed, "but can I have my arm back?"

"Sure," Leo said brightly, "but I'll be able to reattach it only once we're back on Earth."

"Fine," Coulson grumbled. "Follow me."

And the trio left, leaving behind the remains of Malick's Hydra soldiers...

 _TBC_

 _AN2 – no one is trying to bash anyone, but tensions were already high, and the fact that for the next while they are stranded on an alien planet makes things worse._


	2. Chapter 2

**Maveth (part 2)**

 _Disclaimer: none of the characters are mine, but belong to Marvel™._

 _Note: this chapter has some mature themes in it._

And so, the tenacious trio of...men set off to rescue private Ryan, or rather – astronaut Will, even though none of them were really into this. Leo – because of Jemma, Grant – because of Hydra and Phil Coulson...that was somewhat complicated.

Coulson had gone through the new portal to stop Grant Ward and rescue Leo Fitz (or Jemma Simmons), though not necessarily in this order. Will, the other (or the other other?) man in the question wasn't as important to him – he had been briefed, briefly, about Jemma's adventures on the alien planet, but nowhere as fully as Leo or even Bobbi Morse had been, and from what he had learned, he had his doubts about the man. Jemma's new friend sounded nice, but by now Coulson had become more cynical and doubting of such nice-sounding people, in no small part thanks to the actions of Grant Ward walking next to him, ironically.

Coulson hated to admit it, even to himself, but his plan to stop and get rid of Grant Ward had not been the most thought-through. Initially, he counted on his cybernetic arm to give him an edge – and it did, when put against Grant's Hydra soldiers, but then Leo Fitz acted up and threw him off.

Leo Fitz...Coulson had always considered the young scientist to be his friend, not just an ally and an underling (or an employee, though S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't really call its agents employees – it just seemed tasteless), but now, seeing how Leo acted just as, if not more, hostile to him than to Grant Ward, Coulson was beginning to have doubts.

S.H.I.E.L.D., the old S.H.I.E.L.D., had employed a large number of people with varied personalities in its ranks, but it tended to shy away from the overly cynical and the overly idealistic people – such as Leo Fitz. If Grant had been taken onto the Bus's team for being too anti-social (and yes, Coulson now realized the dramatic irony and did not like it at all), then Leo and Jemma were invited onboard for being, perhaps, too introvert, and also – almost too idealistic, even in light of their genius...

"Do you know what _our_ problem, with _each other_ , is, Leo?" Coulson spoke up to the youngest man in their group, pointedly ignoring their former ally (or trying to, anyways). "Is that you're an idealist-"

"He knows – I told him that, once," Grant answered instead, clearly intent on _not_ being ignored, for reasons of his own. "He's a paladin, a knight. He thought, once, that so was I, but he was wrong. Garret was many things, once, but in the end, he was a fraud, and he made me into one too. Leo paid the price, just as Jemma did-"

"Shut up," Coulson snapped. "Stop acting all contrite and repenting! You are not fooling anyone! Not even Leo! But, he is playing along for reasons of his own!"

"Excuse me?" the other two stared at Coulson in stereo. "Say what?"

"When you confronted Grant and Garrett on the stolen bus," Coulson turned back to the scientist, "I was proud of your actions, but they were unnecessary – we still would've stopped Garrett, and your actions _did_ inadvertently made him only stronger-"

"Oh no, he killed John, all right," Grant interrupted once more. "The _thing_ that got onto its feet and walked around, wearing his face after Raina had injected her concoction into him wasn't John. It was some sort of a mad thing that was not really human, and you know what? So was Whitehall with his stolen alien organs and so's Malick, most likely, I could practically smell it on his breath."

"Yet here you are, doing his bidding," Coulson said acidly.

"No, I'm here to spend some time, thinking about what to do with Thomas," Grant shrugged. "So far I'm thinking of letting you and the rest of S.H.I.E.L.D. keep him. He is a weasel who likes to be useful – mom and dad used him to spy on me and our sister until we figured it out; you are a man who likes his people to be useful. Of course, once Thomas stops being useful, you'll probably just hand him over to me as you did with Christian and our parents, so I can be patient."

"Don't you dare talk to me about your family-"

"Oh, my sister and I, we have emancipated ourselves from them as soon as we came of age," Ward flashed a smile that was devoid of humour, "so that was just closure, nothing more. The reason why I am here, avoid Thomas? Because I thought that Thomas just might be saved, that he could be a normal, good person and not a Ward, but he seems to have become one anyways."

There was a pause that was broken by Leo's giggles that were semi-hysterical themselves and not really humorous. "You know," he spoke once the other two men turned back to him. "Daisy was right about Grant – he does care, perhaps truly too much so you try not to care at all. The problem is that the same goes for Coulson – he cares for you too, but he thinks that it is wrong, so he tries not to care at all. God, the two of you are alike, so looking at each other must be like looking through the mirror darkly for _both_ of you!"

Coulson had always thought of himself as being a patient and understanding man, but the recent events had tested him enough already, and so he decided not to pull any punches with Leo either: "And do you know what I think when I look at _you_ , Leo? I see a man who is loyal to S.H.I.E.L.D., you are no Grant Ward, but who is even more loyal to his own ideas and ideals. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but working in S.H.I.E.L.D. generally implies that you must be loyal to its ideas and ideals, and as time goes on, this does not seem to be the case – rather, the opposite. You were thrown out of the plane because you abandoned us and went to rescue Grant despite all evidence to the contrary – but you still put your beliefs first and foremost. With Gonzales...it was different, my own actions in handling the situation were not the best, the others have paid the price for me trusting Jiaying over our own-"

"Where did I hear something similar?" Leo said with a slight grin. "Oh, I believe it was from Grant over here."

"All right, Leo, I hope that I'm your friend, not just your superior, so please try to understand that I want the best for you when I say – snap out of it! You got captured not just because of Grant's plan, but because you rushed there, ignoring the reality around you, even though the experiences with Grant and Jiaying should've taught you otherwise, but you seem to be ignoring them-"

"In other words, S.H.I.E.L.D. isn't a place for individual heroics," Grant said, almost smirking, "at least on a regular basis. The director is being very nice and reasonable here – John had the heroics beaten out of me, literally," his smile dropped. "Bobbi Morse had accused me once of trying to reconcile myself, my actions, with my dreams of being a hero. She was dead wrong. I am no hero, there is too much blood on my hands, but I did want to help Kara Lynn. Bobbi Morse wants to be an S.H.I.E.L.D. agent – I cannot blame her – but did Kara Lynn's memories and life have to be the price? It was my fault, I agree, but in the afterlife? Bobbi won't get away scot-free either, I swear."

"Agent Morse is loyal to S.H.I.E.L.D.-" Coulson began, but Grant ignored him.

"Here," he told Leo instead, as he pulled out a pen and a notepad out of a pocket on his uniform, and wrote something down. "Have Skye search and dig this out, would you?" he told the smaller man. "It's information on John and me, Bobbi and her S.O. – Victoria Hand. Just try not to be distracted, as Bobbi begins to get around without any underwear – it was all part of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s seduction course, or so she told me."

Leo blinked and put the note away into one of his own pockets. He did love Jemma, but Bobbi without her underwear? That sounded interesting – all in the name of research, of course.

Coulson, for his own part, grew thought. "Barbara never told me that she knew you before the Bus," he admitted. "The part without underwear? This _is_ a part of the old S.H.I.E.L.D.'s seduction course, but not one widely talked about, I only know about it from Melinda..." he grew thoughtful.

"There's a seduction course in S.H.I.E.L.D.?" Leo blinked, as he rather imagined both Bobbi and Melinda walk around without any underwear, joined by Jemma and Daisy. (Leo was a good man, but still a man.)

"There was, though it was mostly taken by field agents and mostly by women," Grant nodded. "Victoria Hand had passed it, though, and she was quite content with _not_ being a field agent."

"Victoria Hand? _The_ Victoria Hand? The one who ran the Hub?" Leo could not believe it.

"Yes. Under those stern business suits of hers she was even more voluptuous than Bobbi," Grant nodded, before catching himself. "I think that we've really went off topic here. Director, how far away are we-?"

"Actually, we're already here," Coulson confessed. "This is where I ended up at when I came out of the portal. I fell down there, and was getting up here, when I heard you and the Hydra soldiers walking past. I got up, caught up, and started killing," he flushed, aware that this was not the best way to tell a story – that did make him sound like Grant Ward, at least a little. "Leo, do any of the local landmarks sound familiar to you from Jemma's story?"

"Yes," Leo nodded, as he cautiously joined the other two men at the ravine's edge. "This is the lake with the carnivorous plant, where Jemma met up with this Will. We need to get down, I'm afraid."

"Don't be," Grant shrugged, as he pulled out a long piece of rope out of another one of his pockets, and began to tie it to the nearest rock. "Just attach Coulson's arm to the rest of him and we'll begin to go down."

"I can't," Leo confessed. "It broke."

"So?" Coulson actually did not get it any better than Grant. "It broke off where it was supposed to, right? Otherwise I would be in pain – a lot of it."

"Yes, it broke off in the right place, but incorrectly, so I can't attach it all the same," Leo confessed.

"Then why you were carrying it around?" Coulson blinked – he honestly had thought that Leo had done this to make a point to him.

"I don't want to leave it behind," Leo confessed. "This is an alien planet, if there's any native life around, I didn't want their first impression of us to be discarded prostheses, you know?"

"Of course there's native life," Grant pointed out, not unreasonably, as he finished tying down and securing the rope. "You just spoke yourself about a carnivorous plant?"

Leo blinked, fully realized what he had been talking about and shivered, not exactly from the cold.

"All right," Grant continued, not looking very happy himself. "If the hand's no good, then director, sir, I will have to carry you down on my back."

" _What?"_

"You cannot scale a rope up or down with just one arm and hand," Grant grimaced, "so I will have to carry you. Leo, you know how to climb down?"

"Yes," Leo nodded. "The basics, anyways."

"Maybe I'll just wait here," Coulson argued, but it seemed, (to Leo, anyways), that it was mostly for show.

"And if Malick's eldritch horror comes through, you think you'll be able to fight it off?" Grant flatly replied. "Director, you're a very good fight, but none of us know what exactly it _is_ and how to fight it. Malick said that it was an InHuman of some sort, but for all we know, it is another carnivorous plant instead."

"Well, Jemma didn't think that it was plant, but she herself was quite blurry on how it looked," Leo agreed, reluctantly. "Sir, director Coulson, I agree – staying behind is a bad idea. Please, come along."

"Fine," Coulson grunted, "but if _either_ of you tell this to anyone, I'll kill you both."

"That's fair," Grant nodded, as he took off his utility vest and put it onto Leo. Then, he lowered himself. "Sir, hope on."

'It's sir now, is it?' Phil Coulson thought, but kept his thought to himself. This _was_ important, somehow, but he just was not sure how, so instead he did 'hope onto' Grant, grasping him firmly with his remaining arm.

If Coulson's grip bothered Grant, then the younger man did not show it. Rather, he straightened back up, and indicating to Leo with a gesture that the smaller man should follow him, he began his descent with the director 'on board'.

Looking very thoughtful himself, Leo followed them.

 _TBC_


	3. Chapter 3

**Maveth (part three)**

 _Disclaimer: none of the characters are mine, but belong to Marvel™._

The descent down the sandy slope of the alien world was even more unpleasant for Phil Coulson than the original ascent, albeit for different reasons. Coulson may not have been as much out in the field post the Battle of New York, but he was still in a good shape (naturally), and so while climbing up the slope was hard (the soil was sandy, loose, slippery, and didn't provide very good grips either for the real or the prosthetic hand), the descent was something back. Grant Ward was carrying him on his back. 'He ain't heavy, he is my brother', indeed!

 _\- Coulson, please, I am still a part of the team!_

 _\- You delusional son of a bitch!_

...And it was still Leo Fitz's fault. Once more he had stuck up for Grant Ward, contrary to all the real-life evidence, as he had after they had uncovered the specialist's true allegiance. The first time – fool me once – the tragic outcome was on Grant's head alone, fair enough. Now, however – fool me twice – Leo knew whom he was up against, he knew that Grant Ward was just playing him along, and he still did not care, which, in turn, raised the question of what Leo Fitz did care about? Judging by his latest attitude – it got bad during their altercation with Gonzales, got bad after Jemma's disappearance, and apparently didn't get better after her return. Leo Fitz, perhaps, got so used to tragedy and drama in his life, that he was starting to generate it for himself by himself – this sort of thing happened to agents in the old S.H.I.E.L.D. and it usually ended badly, for them and for the others.

...Yet Coulson could not believe it of Leo Fitz. The younger man was not just his ally, but also his friend. Maybe he was just playing along to lure Grant Ward into false sense of security? But that was unnecessary; rather, if Leo had distracted him for just a bit longer, Coulson would have killed their former cohort already and the two of them would have been on their way to rescue Jemma's new friend. True, that man himself could turn out to be evil (honestly, Coulson thought that the whole bit with the alien monster was a bit sketchy, even from Jemma's direct description, and hearing it second hand from Bobbi and the others didn't make it any clearer, and they have been taken before – and not just by Hydra agents either), there could be other problems (as there usually were on their missions), but at least Grant Ward would've been dead, and Coulson would have both arms functional – and now, thanks to Leo Fitz, neither of that was true.

As Coulson mused his thoughts, Grant had finally reached the bottom and released the rope, moving away, so that Leo could join them. Immediately, Coulson jumped off to regain some measure of his dignity back. He straightened out – and looked Grant Ward right in the eye, albeit unintentionally, as the other man moved while Leo was making his own landing in the lowland. Surprisingly, (or perhaps not very), the specialist himself looked rather upset (for him), rather than exhausted or angry (Coulson _was_ experienced enough to know the difference), and was not saying anything, either.

"What?" Coulson spoke; he tried to sound ironic or defiant, but came neutral instead. Maybe he has become emotionally drained ever since he came through the currently closed portal and met-up with Grant and Leo. Maybe it was the fact that one could imagine it so easily to be one of their pre-Hydra missions, perhaps done for the late agent Hand for the S.H.I.E.L.D. from the Hub, who knows? If Grant had once zigged instead of zagging – yes, they could have still be a team, together. But he did what he had done, and now he was a Hydra assassin while Leo was...well, actually Coulson was not sure just who Leo was anymore, not right now. "Thinking about what you have lost?"

"Yes," Grant nodded. "I will regret it for the rest of my life, as I have told Leo earlier, when you were catching up to us."

"...You should've thought of this before, before you tortured Bobbi and killed Rosalind," Coulson ground out, (ignoring Andrew Garner for the moment, 'cause talking about him was still a sticky point in the agency because of the entire Lash thing).

Grant did not back down. "Director. I know that _I_ was the one who killed Kara Lynn, technically speaking, but because Melinda and Lance Hunter had tricked me. Furthermore, you just ignored her, while you dragged me to S.H.I.E.L.D. with the help of Garrett's reject – Phil, S.H.I.E.L.D. isn't the sort of saintly organization that you pretend that it is-"

"It doesn't matter!" Leo snapped, startling the older two men. "Two wrongs don't make a right, Grant! If you wanted the normal life with Kara Lynn, you would just help her escape from us and start life anew-"

"I tried that! In Mexico!" Grant shook his head, but his heart was not in the argument. "We were going to bring Bobbi back, all she had to do was to apologize for not rescuing Kara Lynn from Hydra and that would've been the last you saw of us. But I guess you just cannot change some people – Bobbi may've joined S.H.I.E.L.D. to become a better person, she can certainly pretend to be almost anyone's dream woman, man or woman, but in the end? While I am an assassin, so's she. I maybe fire and anger, but she's ice, pride, and stone."

There was a pause as Leo (and to a lesser extent Grant himself) eyed Coulson. "Aren't you going to argue?" the young Scotsman asked the director.

"I don't like you," Coulson told Grant instead, not sounding very happy. "I don't trust you, but some things about agent Morse do add up with what you're talking about – once we're back I believe there are some questions that I need to ask her all the same. Now let's go and find Jemma's spaceman!"

"I think that's the guy over here, staring at us from around the bend," Leo said conversationally, as he was the first one to become aware of the newcomer on the scene. "Hello, sir, is you Jemma's friend Will or someone else?" he finished with a big, though slightly fake, smile, while Grant and Phil Coulson just waved to him in a vaguely friendly sort of way, trying to inspire confidence for them in him, (and not doing a very successful job).

"Yes, I am," the latter replied, still looking somewhat overwhelmed. "I think I remember the two of you from her video," he pointed to Leo and Coulson. "I don't remember you," he pointed to Grant.

"He's just a friend of ours, who helps on occasion," Leo shrugged, following some feeling his gut. "Anyways, are you ready to live – I mean, to leave? Our friends on the other side, including Jemma, will be opening the portal soon, you know?"

"Right," the man nodded sagely. "Excuse me, I need to go and pack – or something." He turned and went straight into a disguised hole in the ground.

Leo exchanged looks with the other two. "He's just overwhelmed, isn't he?" he told them the obvious. "Come on and let's prove to him that we're all real here," and he raced off.

Coulson and Grant had no choice but to follow him.

/

Getting down Will's ladder proved to be less embarrassing for Coulson than going down the slope, because he was able to get there by himself, via the ladder. Grant, for his own part, just jumped, carrying Leo with him, without any effort or damage to himself.

"Very good progress, sir," Leo told the director. "And Grant will get you back up in no time, too!"

Coulson gave Leo a sour look. "Why are you doing this?" he asked the scientist.

"I told you that, back in the uplands," Leo shook his head. "Grant Ward isn't the villain you're making him out to be, and honestly? When Lance and Melinda told the rest of us that they got rid of agent 33? None of us were upset, and there were even some jokes, told mainly by Lance and Bobbi, on Grant's behalf. They did not last very long, but they were tasteless, and if I was not so very busy with Jemma's absence, I would have done something about it. As it was, Skye – I mean, Daisy, and Mack did. Now it came to bite us all in the ass. Sorry, sir, for not toeing the party line, but ever since you got us talking about Grant with you and with each other, I've been thinking and I realized that we're making into the man he is – the man we want him to be. He is just playing along because that is how he was made to be – by his family, by Garrett, by the others. But because he still cares, he still can be saved, especially if he wants to be. I am going to try. This is probably the last time, if he doesn't – then he won't, but if he does? I'm there for him."

"Leo, you're a good man," Coulson shook his head.

"One of the best," Grant agreed. "Better than me, certainly and maybe even than you are. On the less passionate note, do you have any idea how his light-source-thing works?"

"No," Leo nodded, curious, just because he still was himself, and trotted over to the mostly concealed niche where Will's source of light was located. "Let me see – this is actually interesting."

...Once more, Coulson found himself alongside Grant, as the two of them blocked the line of sight between the engineer and Will. (Just in case. Not that that they did not trust him, of course. Ok, they did not – Grant did not trust anyone lately, and neither did Coulson, not when it came to mysterious strangers.) "You know, I'm not going to kill you – not now. I am going to let you go instead. The only way, perhaps, to shake Leo out of his own issues, is by letting him see for himself the sort of man that you truly are."

"You mean a murderer?" Grant's reply was equally quiet and humorless. "I'm guessing that you need to kill Thomas too? I understand, sir, I really do – you reached under a rock, you found him, and now that he's done his part with me, you don't know what to do with him anymore."

"Unlike you," Coulson growled, "I believe in best in people, in second chances."

"And so does Leo. Why are you angry with him?"

"I'm not angry at him – I am angry at me," Coulson confessed. "I should've shot you back at CyberTek, but instead I gave you the chance to be useful, to redeem yourself, and you threw it in my face every time – from torturing Bobbi to killing Rosalind. And you messed with us, manipulated us – but no more. Leo, however, was not manipulated by you alone – rather, it seems, the damage to his character was more profound than just his speech. He became more like you, and I let him. He chose me over S.H.I.E.L.D. and I felt flattered. I let him get away with things because I owed him because of the Bus, and while he had rescued Jemma, I wonder if the price has not been too high – by joining us on the Bus, Leo had met the real world that the Academy," Coulson chuckled, humorlessly, "and this didn't make him in a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent – rather, it made him into someone else: a good man, to be sure, but not entirely appropriate to S.H.I.E.L.D. I let this happen, this is my fault – I should have introduced him to Andrew, whom I also have failed, apparently: the man had rather run around the world, killing people rather than going to us, to May for help. I have failed him too. Maybe passing the office of the director to Mack was the best thing I've done in S.H.I.E.L.D."

"I disagree, sir," Grant said quietly. "You're a good man, you even gave Bobbi a chance, you gave me a chance, and the fact that it didn't work out is just my fault. Don't give up – you'll be a leader of men yet."

Coulson gave the younger man a flat look. Grant was trying to manipulate him, he was sure of that, but this sort of knowledge gave him no consolation. It was nice to have a pat on the back, after all.

"Ok, I'm ready to go," Will spoke up, finally joining his 'rescue team'.

"Great!" Leo piped up, standing next to Grant and Coulson now, (but still carrying the director's still-dysfunctional artificial arm for some reason of his own). "Then let's go!"

And off they went.

 _TBC_


	4. Chapter 4

**Maveth (part 4)**

 _Disclaimer: see previous chapters._

The return to the surface from Will's underground hideout proved to be as embarrassing for Phil Coulson, as his descent down the sandy slopes had been. Mind you, neither Grant nor Leo commented now on him taking yet another ride on Grant's back, and Will's opinion didn't count – not yet, but all the same, when they had finally reached the surface, the (formerly?) stranded spaceman commented:

"Impressive, Mr-"

"Just call me Grant."

"Impressive, Mr. Grant. You must really care for your old man to carry him around like that and treat him like that in general-"

"He isn't my father," Grant said firmly, "but he _is_ a good man – better than me, though I'm not sure about Leo over here – and he deserves help, especially since we're helping you already, though I'm not sure why Leo here is still carrying this defunct arm of the director."

"I've got my reasons," Leo replied brightly. "Now then, Will, how are you at scaling a sandy ravine slope via a rope upwards, or is there another way upwards?"

"Sure is," Will nodded, "didn't Jemma tell you this?"

"No, I mean yes, it's just that when the ancient evil monster came into the story, the story became very blurred, so no, we didn't really get that part," Leo confessed. "Please, show us."

"Follow me," Will nodded, and took – not as subtly as he did a look around. Naturally, the others also took a look around – just in case. Leo did not see anything suspicious, but the others, apparently, did, as they followed Will without any argument.

Leo, for his part, suppressed the desire to yell "Wait for me, I'm the smallest!" and just followed them, especially since both Coulson and especially Grant sought to put him before them, into the middle.

But he still kept Coulson's discarded hand, though – because he was Leo. And also, because he was Leo, he became aware only halfway to the destination point (as indicated by Coulson, rather than him, because he actually was largely lost and turned around, and if it had been just himself and Will, the two of them would be hopelessly lost by now), he became aware that their firearm was once more in Coulson's good hand, while Grant wasn't objecting to it, but rather supporting Coulson by his stump (and the director wasn't objecting to this either, not now), and both of them were keeping a sharp look around them... as was actually Will, but Leo still didn't see anything disturbing, and so he decided to say this.

"Leo," Grant said quietly, "keep your voice down and look down there, pardon the pun." He pointed back at the lowlands, where the sandy soil was rippling, as if a couple of breezes were chasing each other around – but there was no breeze. In fact, Leo only now realized, to his embarrassment, that the weather outside had changed – the heavy winds that had been harassing them earlier had disappeared, replaced by a relative calm. Perhaps this was a good thing, but Leo thought of the calm before a storm for some reason, and instinctively grabbed Grant's other hand – in case the storm came back and they would be at risk of losing each other.

"The storm, Leo, is already coming back," Coulson spoke calmly, (apparently Leo had spoken the last part aloud, _again_ ), "just look to the east."

Leo did. He immediately wished that he had not, as out there was a black storm, brewing between the earth and the sky of this alien world. "How do you know that it is east?" he asked, trying to be brave, (and not succeeding very well – facing a storm was a new experience for him, one that he would rather go without).

"We don't," Coulson replied, "but according to Grant's compass, the east is there, so, honestly, this is good enough for us. Maybe, if we begin to interact with this planet on a regular basis – perhaps. But until then – east it is, regardless of what it actually is."

"Okay," Leo nodded. "I can accept this. But if we go to this planet next time, I will need more than hearsay and a single compass-"

"Wait, you're thinking of going _back_ here? Are you _mad_?" Will finally joined the conversation, even as he stopped, apparently in incredulity.

"This is S.H.I.E.L.D. you're talking about, Mr. Will – this is where madness has a method and a reason," Grant shrugged. "Anyways, how far until we're there yet?"

"Actually? I believe that we're here already," Leo shrugged. "This is the spot that Coulson had led us to the first time around, and there's the rope that we used to go down...you know, if we actually had a better idea of how to get around here, this would've saved us all a lot of embarrassing times..."

"Leo?" Coulson said flatly. "You remember that I told you _both_ that I will kill you _both_ if you tell anyone about my descent?"

"Sandspouts," Grant interrupted them.

"This isn't a word-" Leo began and fell silent, as he and Coulson (he didn't care about Will) beheld two or three waterspout-like tornadoes going in the distance, like some graceful, but carnivorous, animals.

"I know," Grant said the irrelevant, "but there doesn't seem to be too much water on this place, so I can't really call them waterspouts, now can I?"

"Point," Leo agreed, "now everyone keep quiet – I'm thinking."

Coulson and Grant exchanged looks and kept quiet. Will opened his mouth – Grant and Coulson gave him a look – he closed it.

"This is cozy," the Cavalry commented wryly, as she dropped on a harness, with a series of harnesses, through the portal. "It is time to go now, or do you need some more time, Leo?"

"No, we're good," Leo instantly stopped thinking about whatever he was thinking about at the moment. "Melinda, about Grant-"

"His people or rather – his snipers – had been quite helpful against Malick's forces," Melinda's face grew a distasteful look, "but if we don't bring him back, they'll turn on us and for the moment we rather not have another fight."

"Thank you," Grant nodded to the Chinese woman without any of his usual cocky comments and turned to Leo (and Will). "Shall we go now?"

There were no arguments.

/

The arrival of Coulson...and Grant...and Leo...and Will was actually quite mundane, as compared to their departure, which included parachute jumping and a lot of other things. They came through the portal, (as Melinda herself did), and just stood there, getting their bearings back. Thomas, Grant's remaining brother, gasped, as he realized that Grant was still alive and unhurt, but Grant ignored him for the moment. Daisy, however, did not.

"Grant," she said firmly, "you know what I can do. Tell your people to stand down."

"Hey, Leo's got a glowing hand and Malick's corpse looks like it is leaking oil rather than blood," Grant shrugged. "They aren't doing anything even without my orders at the moment."

There was a pause as everyone did look at Leo, and he _did_ have a glowing hand – the one that Coulson had broken off in his brief fight with Grant. "Oh, it's the glowing seeds of Will's," the engineer said in his usual cheerful manner. "I scooped some of them into the hidden compartment on Coulson's prosthetic arm, you know? Interesting, they didn't glow on their native planet..."

"Turbo," Mack groaned, "have you been sacrificing strength and durability of the director's prosthetics for hidden secret compartments? This isn't right!"

Coulson opened his mouth to comment that Leo did not do everything right lately, when Leo jabbed Malick's supposed corpse with the glowing hand. There was a brief flash of daylight (back on England, it was still night), some sort of a brief shriek, and when the light faded, the corpse was gone, as if it had never existed.

"Um," Leo gulped, released Coulson's artificial limb, and kind of sat down on the floor. "I _didn't_ mean to do this."

"Oh Fitz," Jemma just groaned. "You haven't changed."

"Coulson thinks that I have-"

"Before we get stuck dealing with this latest crisis, Grant, tell your men to back down," Daisy growled. "You don't have a choice – you don't have any friends here-"

"Ah, but I have family," Grant flashed her a grin.

"No you don't – Thomas here hates you as much as any of us-"

"He was talking about me," Raina, of all people, commented, as she descended downstairs, swinging a large baseball bat, studded with nails long enough and sharp enough to probably hurt even another InHuman, let alone an ordinary person. "So, we meet again, all three of us, eh Tommy?"

"Raina," Thomas clearly was about to hyperventilate. "You're green."

"Sure is," Grant agreed amicably, even as Raina gave their (?) brother a look that Coulson and others used to give Grant himself after his betrayal. "Remember grandma Dot's stories? They were true."

Thomas gulped. Tears began to run down his cheeks.

"And what's more," Grant continued in the same amicable tone, "I am not dead yet, either. Tommy, you failed – again." Despite his friendly voice and gentle smile, somehow the message was that Thomas did not have long left to live.

"Hold," Coulson said simply. "Grant – what are we missing?"

"Let's see," Grant grew thoughtful. "The three of us had different mothers. I, like Christian, was born from the legitimate Ms. Ward. Thomas was born from Mr. Ward's secretary – he was the right gender and color, so our biological family adopted him and made him something of a showpiece: he got better food; he was not tortured at all – the works. Raina, whom born from one of the house staff, was both colored and a girl, so our family refused to recognize her, except for our grandma, Dot. Raina?"

"Grandma Dot adopted me and made me a part of the family – her side of the family," Raina shrugged. "The only other person who cared about me was big bro over here," she pointed to Grant, "for some reason of his own he decided that I was his sister and began to play with me. This did not go well with Tommy over there, who wanted Grant to play only with him, and he began to tattle on us to the Wards. Grant did not like that, and so he stopped playing with Tommy altogether. Christian did not play with Tommy to begin with, so Tommy ended up with no one at all – and Grant still played with me, _and_ got to spend time with grandma Dot, who was very cool, and had all the best stories: how she let Howard Stark get away from her, how _her_ grandfather, back in the old country, had sex with an alien, which is why, possibly, some of us were throwbacks to that ancestor of hers, and that we had great futures ahead of us. Grant, being the trusting idiot that he was back then, shared those stories with Tommy, because he felt sorry for him – and Tommy promptly told it to the elder generation, and there was a lot of nastiness, but you know what, Tommy? Maybe Grant and I are not as badass as I thought that we were once, but he and I are still a family, and you are not. Live with it."

"And on this note, we'll take our leave," Grant spoke from his position, next to Leo (as well as Jemma and Will). "Leo, thank you for believing in me, as misplaced as your trust is-"

"Wait," Leo got onto his feet too. "Grant, is Raina telling the truth or is this just another tale of hers? She once talked Coulson into going into the memory machine-"

Grant shrugged, and reaching towards his face, took it off – or rather, the photostatic mask like the one that been on the face of the late agent 33, revealing a visage similar to his old one, save that it was much darker, not like that of an Afro-American...save for fiery red blood veins that appeared here and there.

Grant smiled, without any humour, and exhaled a small stream of hot smoke. "How about now?" he asked, uncharacteristically gentle, as he put the mask into Leo's hands. "Keep it – it'll be probably more useful for S.H.I.E.L.D. nowadays. And Skye?" he turned towards Daisy. "You may be growing more beautiful every time we seem to meet, but those fish pills of your folks? They suck. I took one accidentally – and got my organs rearranged like a jigsaw puzzle, and in a bad way, too. If Raina and a friend of hers were not around to help me, I _would have_ died, most likely, but they were, so I am still alive. Sorry about that," he concluded with a self-depreciating grin.

In return, a good deal of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s team groaned, facepalmed, or both.

"Grant," Coulson said quietly, "can we extend our truce for a bit longer? I, we cannot believe it, but there are some formal offers that must be made – to both of you, since you are InHumans. You can leave as any time, of course, but-"

"Let's hear them, for formality's sake," Grant replied, instead of leaving.

 _TBC_


	5. Chapter 5

**Maveth (part 5)**

 _Disclaimer: none of the characters are mine, but belong to Marvel™._

The meeting, which occurred in several hours after the 'battle of the monoliths' as it was called, unofficially, was tense and awkward, as neither side really wanted to be there, but would rather be over with it as quickly as possible. The only reason as to why they all had waited that long had been to get away from the site of the portal and the now demolished castle, and even with their combined efficiency, it still had taken time – but now the time had come for talks as well.

For his part, Coulson, now reinstalled as the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., (Mack didn't really want to be in charge of the agency more than it was necessary and so he promptly gave the title back to Coulson as soon as the other man returned from the alien world), would've probably been happier, if Grant had just taken his allies and disappeared into the woodwork, as he did after the Arctic-based op – then Coulson wouldn't needed to waste his time, but focus on something more important, like dealing with Leo Fitz and _his_ issues, for example. But Grant was here, same for Raina, and a few other people, who were staying in the background, not unlike some of Coulson's own people...

"Right," Coulson said wearily. "Let's make it brief. Grant, we have no proof that you were gifted when you killed Rosalind."

Grant said nothing.

"According to the new S.H.I.E.L.D. rules, an InHuman of the new generation who underwent the transformation, especially _involuntarily_ , is given a new chance of living the right way."

Grant continued to stare, his face at its most impassive.

"That's basically it, really," Coulson decided to cut it short. "You can either go on living your old life with the new style, whatever it is, with your sister, or whoever else, holding your leash, or you could cooperate with us. I _am_ trying to change S.H.I.E.L.D., I am not going to coerce anyone into joining us, and frankly, none of your people are likely to join us either. But still, so that there are no misunderstandings, the offer is here, on the table."

"Acknowledged," Grant nodded. "We generally do not object to this. However, for a while now, we have been planning to fix Li Shi back up, and have actually started to do so. Since you're going to discover this anyhow, you want to establish an outpost there and keep an eye on us from the start?"

There was a pause, and then Daisy, who had joined Coulson and the others at the improved 'negotiations table', all but dropped the tablet that she had been bringing to Coulson in the first place, looking already disturbed.

"Excuse me?" she all but snarled at Grant and Raina. "You- she told me that my destiny was to lead the InHumans-"

"She told me that you and I can be monsters together," Grant said simply. "You've taken Tommy aboard, Coulson, and this is good. He could use someone behind him, a better person than Christian and his parents were-"

"They were your parents too-"

"Oh, as soon as big bro and I were of age, we've emancipated ourselves from the Wards," Raina grinned. "Second best day ever! The first was when they actually died, you know?" she finished with a grin that was excessively similar to Grant's.

"Anyways," Grant interjected, "Tommy will be calling Raina a liar before long. I will not go there, but like grandma Dot, Raina's really adroit at telling tales and at getting people to believe them. Now that Skye's mother had her stubbed, she's trying to tone it down, more or less, but that is now, and this was then-"

"How _did_ you survive?" Coulson asked, curious despite himself. "Daisy saw you fall-"

"InHuman anatomy," Raina grimaced, as she pulled down her new scarf to reveal her new scar, stark white against her dark green skin. "I'm not sure if I have evolved a differently shaped brain as your protégé had, but my anatomy isn't human anymore either, and it's not just skin deep."

"Acknowledged," Coulson spoke, before Daisy could say anything, and actually did turn to her:

"Did you check out the source that Leo had given to you?"

"Yes." Daisy seemed to be more upset by this than by Raina's latest revelation, that she did get the last laugh over the hacktivist turned agent. "But I think that we need to call Bobbi first-"

"Then call her," Coulson spoke, actually surprising Daisy a bit. "I agree – I want to hear her version first."

"I'm here, actually," Bobbi said, as she quickly joined the others at Coulson's side of the table. "You wanted to see me?"

"You want to explain this, or should we ask Thomas' siblings-"

"Former siblings, probably," Raina said cheerfully, while fluttering her lashes at the director.

"-to explain this to us?" Coulson finished, even as he twitched on the inside – Raina's InHuman appearance did not amount to _successful_ flirting.

Bobbi looked at the new information – and froze. Wordlessly, she began to flip through it, standing practically shock-still. "Daisy?" Coulson turned to the other woman.

"Her heart's going a mile a minute, almost as fast as mine usually does," Daisy muttered back. "She's in shock. She knows those photos. I don't think that they're fakes, either."

"They're not," Raina agreed, as she snuck around and joined Bobbi at her position. "I remember some of them, and hey, I _am_ in some of them – remember, Bobbi?"

"Why would you be there?" Daisy blinked.

"Attended the academy, was in Sci-and-Tech, majored in natural sciences," Raina said placidly, "got burned out before I could graduate. Went to talk to brother dear, he asked his S.O. – the man who was like a father to him, **cough** – for help, and John got me an internship, **cough** , at your old man's," Raina said brightly.

"My father...Cal...knew about Hydra? In S.H.I.E.L.D.?" Daisy said in a small voice.

"He knew about both, he didn't care about either – he only cared about your mother and you," Raina nodded. "Your mother, on the other hand, largely cared only about _you_ – see the difference? Of course, you judge a debt by how it is paid and your father's latest actions-"

"I know," Daisy spoke, cross despite her intentions, "he has shacked-up with a woman of the FitzSimmons' age. It isn't exactly _wrong_ , he _is_ a free man, and not even a part of S.H.I.E.L.D., but did she have to be so young?"

"I didn't have too much time to talk with your father, but he did mention how he and your mother used to have sex for several days straight," Raina commented, 'helpfully'. "Campbell got some big shoes to fill as the next Mr. Zabo. Still, you got Lance Hunter _and_ Bobbi Morse on your side; he should fill in the role quickly..."

"We're getting sidetracked," Coulson said crossly. "Barbara Morse, care to tell us what has been happening in your life?"

Bobbi gulped and looked around. "I'll go instead," Grant shrugged. "Not unlike Raina, and, probably, Tommy, Bobbi over there wanted to matter, to be important, and not just be some ordinary person like the rest of her family. She applied to S.H.I.E.L.D. academy, got accepted, and got assigned agent Victoria Hand, as her S.O. Victoria was a friend with benefits with my own S.O. – John. For reasons of her own, she began to encourage the relations between Bobbi and me so that the two of us would form a family of our own. It did not happen, and instead we drifted apart – the final blow probably came when she refused to apologize to Kara Lynn for selling her out to Hydra and failing to rescue her afterwards. I _don't_ blame her for leaving me behind, I deserve it, and S.H.I.E.L.D. _is_ better than Hydra, but Kara Lynn? That's something else."

"You want to disprove it?" Coulson turned to Bobbi, who just shook her head. Tears were coming down her cheeks. "No? All right then, you made your point, Grant-"

"My point, sir," the former agent said bitterly, "is that don't turn onto Barbara the way you did on me – she wants to be useful and helpful for your people. And my question, sir, is we going to cooperate in regards to Li Shi?"

"Yes," Coulson nodded. "We'll contact you later – we're going to see what your people are doing there, in the first place?"

"Fair enough – we'll see you in China, then," Grant nodded, and left, followed by Raina and some other people.

"Wasn't that the von Strucker boy?" Mack rumbled, as he joined Coulson, Daisy, and the others. "I thought that he was in a coma?"

"I think that he was faking it, and we fell for it," Coulson said crossly, "but this isn't the first time it happened – and on my watch. People," he turned the rest of the S.H.I.E.L.D., who joined him after the departure of Grant's own outfit, "the old S.H.I.E.L.D. fell not because of Hydra alone, but because it _had_ become too successful, too outspread. Too many people had joined it for their own desires, ambitions, plans – not to protect the Earth from the unknown threats, but to further their own agendas. Ever since Fury had given me the directorship, I thought that I was doing my best to correct this problem – I was wrong. Bobbi had fooled me on an even greater scale than Grant did, it seems. Leo...I do not know what are you thinking or planning any more. You had a secret compartment in my prosthetic arm, one that neither Mack nor I knew about. This is not Grant, this is not Hydra, this is us, each one doing our own thing, splitting the agency at its seams. We need to pull together, or we will fall, separately. Now, in several days, we will be sending some representatives to Li Shi. We do not know what Grant and his people were doing there, so we will try to find out what they are doing there first and adjust our strategy accordingly. Everyone's dismissed."

"Sir," Mack began. Coulson glared:

"The next person who speaks out will be appointed the director in my stead. Well? Any volunteers?"

Everyone hurriedly left, leaving behind only Coulson...and May. "Phil?" the woman asked quietly. "Are you okay?"

"No, Melinda," the director shook his head. "I went through the portal, confident in my people, intent on stopping Grant and rescuing Leo. I failed with both of the latter, and as for the confidence in my people...it'll be much harder putting it together now."

"Well, Mack _did_ do ok as a director," Melinda said with a slight smirk (for her).

"I'm listening," Coulson spoke with a slight smirk of his own.

And as Melinda began to narrate how they were able to defeat Malick's forces and the man himself, Coulson's spirits began to lift for the first time since Rosalind had died: perhaps things will get better in the future?

And they certainly did – just not how either he or Melinda expected them to be...but that was another story.

End.


End file.
